A quarterback must be a vocal leader both when his team is dominating an opponent, and when they’re getting their backsides kicked in. Former Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday had to do a lot of the latter during his time in Pullman.

Just because Halliday isn’t slinging the pigskin around at practice right now doesn’t mean he can’t flex his larynx and sing praises about his Alma mater. Tuesday, the former WSU quarterback made a bold, but true, statement on Sirius XM Radio with James Miller and Pat Kirwin.

“If Jameis Winston didn’t play well, FSU could still win a game. If I didn’t play well we would lose by 30,” Halliday said.

Translation: If I wasn’t the quarterback, and I didn’t play with the heart I had, we would have been blown out every single game. Jameis Winston, on the other hand, could have been opted to the bench and Florida State would still win games.

Whether the message was meant for either of WSU’s potential future starting quarterbacks – redshirt sophomore Luke Falk or redshirt freshman Peyton Bender – or an NFL executive who is reviewing Halliday’s game film, the point was he needed to speak the truth. And that is something Halliday did plenty of during his time at WSU – something one of the two quarterbacks replacing him need to be comfortable doing.

After the Cougars’ 41-38 loss to Rutgers in Seattle to open the 2014 season, Halliday made his opinion known during his postgame interview.

“I don’t think all 11 guys truly believed that we were going to win that game and that’s frustrating,” said Halliday. “But we’ll get that figured out and hopefully we do build some type of legacy.”

Halliday demanded respect. When he spoke, people listened. Now as a graduate, he’s got the ability to light a fire under each seat in the quarterback meeting room and see who jumps first. Someone in that room needs to replace his passion for the University and the game, not his stats. In Mike Leach’s system, any quarterback can put the numbers up, but that doesn’t mean any quarterback can be a leader.

Neither Bender nor Falk have separated themselves in the race for the starting job this spring, and that’s fine. One of them, or potentially both, need to take control of the program from a leadership standpoint after spring ball and get the team together this summer before returning to camp in the fall.

The past few years of Cougar football have not been a pleasant experience for either players, coaches, fans or anyone associated with the university. Anyone flying the crimson flag does not want to see another down year. Halliday and Leach spent the better part of two seasons resurrecting a dead program and now have it heading in the right direction.

Bender, Falk, flip a coin, have a thumb-war, or do something to find it in yourself to take the reins of the program and make Halliday and Cougar nation proud once again.